


Redemption

by Moag8394



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-06-01
Packaged: 2018-01-27 15:43:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1715963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moag8394/pseuds/Moag8394
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek Hale is known to be a mysterious, private person. But his world turns upside down as he saves the life of a bubbly, charming girl by the name of Caroline who opens up a side of Derek that has been hidden for so long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_There._

I bolted a sharp right as I caught a glance of those mysterious glowing eyes through the thick fog. I pushed my legs farther as I tried to concentrate on picking up any scent that I could find.

_There!_ I whipped around at inhumane speeds towards my left as I faintly caught an unfamiliar scent hovering through the trees. Again I bolted through the pitch black woods trying to locate the source of the strange stench.

After a moment, I had found a path that brought the scent stronger with every stride I took — but it wasn’t until a couple more seconds later that I somewhat recognized the rusty smell. Blood. I knew the Alpha was near.

The forest became a dark blur as I pushed my body farther as the heavy stench of blood grew stronger. After months of this non-stop game of “cat-and-mouse”, I had finally caught a break. I was sure the blood belonged to the Alpha.

By now the smell had become powerful and I knew I was less than a mile from the source. A growl was building in my throat as I pictured my claws ripping through the Alpha as soon as I got close. Suddenly my heart jumped as I cringed at a piercing scream in the distance followed by a series of low snarls. My anger ripped out of my throat in a loud growl as I finally caught sight of those glowing eyes about a hundred meters downhill by the darkened creek. There was no way in hell I was going to let this killer go without a fight.

I leaped across the trickling water at lightning speed to find myself entangled with the dark creature. Growls and snarls were exchanged as I ripped and clawed at the wolf, trying to cause as much damage as I could — but to my surprise the Alpha did not fight back, rather the creature was trying to escape as it attempted to run from my grasp. Within a split second, the snarls of the Alpha disappeared as I felt the breath knocked out of me as I slammed against a tree. My head spun as I hit the forest floor. It took me a couple seconds to realize that the wolf had bolted by now.

The Alpha was stronger to say the least.

I lay there, back in my human form, in the darkness for a couple of minutes not daring to move as I waited for my body to heal itself. I knew bones were broken as a result of the wolf’s powerful shove as the agonizing pain slowly started to die down and after a moment, I started to think straight again.

I had caught the scent of the Alpha. I had done damage to it. But I let it get away. Again. I knew that I needed Scott’s help if I wanted to destroy the murderer. I would have to fight my stubbornness and ask for his help. It needed to be done — for Laura.

Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by a faint sound. A whimpering sound. I jumped onto the balls of my feet as I scanned the trees for those glowing eyes. Had the Alpha come back? My body started to shake as I felt myself transforming, ready to fight again. But I snapped out of the trance as soon as I caught an unfamiliar figure out the corner of my eye.

“What the f-” I slowly crept closer to the figure lying by the edge of the lake.

Abruptly, I remembered the fervent scream that I had heard while racing over hear earlier. I hadn’t thought much of it. But now the pieces fit together. I knelt down next to the petite woman as I examined her wounds. The blood belonged to her.

Her forehead was dripping blood onto the cold stones of the creek as well as three large gashes on her arm in what appeared to be claw marks. Her long, dark brown locks were damp from water and blood. I was hesitant to reach out to her as she looked as if she was still somewhat conscious. But when I heard her heart beat grow fainter, I knew she was dying. I carefully scooped her up, careful of any broken bones that she might have had.

The strange girl weakly shifted her large brown eyes up at me as I quickly made my way through the dark forest. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t draw up enough strength to talk. She was losing a lot of blood and I knew I needed to get home fast.

“Who are you?” I asked firmly as I watched her struggle to stay conscious in my arms. She didn’t answer. Her eyes were drooping as she continued to put up a fight to stay awake. I could see the faint glow of my house a couple hundred meters in the distance as her breathing got shallower. The girl’s complexion was as pale as a ghost. I know understood how Stiles must have felt when he was forced to take care of me when I was shot by that hunter.

Suddenly my hearing caught her breathless whisper. Her voice was so quiet that a normal human wouldn’t have been able to hear it.  
“Caroline,” she answered.


	2. Chapter 2

It was bright outside when I had woken up for the fourth time. I had attempted to fall asleep on one of the old wooden chairs with my feet propped up about three hours ago, however my eyes always snapped open at the slight sound of shuffling from the couch. I looked over at the petite, brunette laid out on the dusty old couch next to me.

Last night, after she had fallen unconscious and I had stitched up all her cuts, I stood there staring at her for a long time – debating. I had done the right thing by make sure she didn't die, but what was I supposed to do after that? Being the isolated person that I am, I didn't want to deal with the girl when she woke up. Who knows what kind of hysteria or list of questions she had for me. I didn't have the time or patience for her. But it was then that I realized that I had forgotten she had been with the Alpha, meaning she must have seen something.

Questions raced through my mind for hours. Why had the Alpha attacked her? Was the Alpha planning to kill her? Does the girl know about werewolves? Had she seen me? Had she seen the Alpha in its human form? I knew that I couldn't simply throw the girl out so I agreed to keep an eye on her until she woke up. I would find out what she knew then let her go. Simple as that.

Suddenly I heard her pulse quicken followed by a gasp. I swifty stood up as I caught two blue eyes staring up at me from the couch.

"Who are you?" her high pitched voice said as she attempted to sit up.

"Be careful," I snapped as I reached out to push her back down, but I quickly took my hands back. "You have stitches in," I explained, pointing out her gauze wrapped forearm. The girl lifted her arm to inspect the damage as I eyed her carefully. To my surprise, she didn't appear frightened, hysterical, or in as much pain as I expected her to be – rather, she held a look of curiosity.

"Are you going to tell me who you are?" she repeated as she looked back up at me with her curious eyes.

I ignored her question. "Do you remember what happened?" I asked. The girl's eyes narrowed.

"You didn't answer me," she replied firmly. "I'm not saying anything until I know who you are." My jaw clenched as I felt my temper flickered. Patience definitely was not my strongest quality.

"My name is Derek Hale," I answered, annoyed. "Will you tell me what you remember now?" The girl sat up, ignoring my warning about her stitches.

"My name is Caroline Middleton," she replied in a casual voice.

"You already told me," I snapped impatiently. Our tones of voice were complete opposites. The girl rolled her eyes. "What happened?"

"Why should I tell you?" she tested, folding her arms. I glared down at her, surprised by her boldness.

"I saved your life," I declared firmly. She fell silent as her blue eyes drooped to the dusty floorboards. After a moment, I sighed impatiently.

"Will you please tell me what you remember?" I asked in a more polite voice. The girl kept quiet for a few more moments until she finally took a deep breath and looked up at me with soft, dark blue eyes.

"I don't remember anything," she whispered. I stared at her for a few moments. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or disappointed.

"Are you sure?" I questioned. "What's the last thing you remember doing?"

She scowled down at the ground for a minute before looking back up at me again. "I just remember walking around in the woods. Next thing I know, I was at the bottom of the hill trying to stay conscious," she explained. Caroline shrugged. "That's all I remember." I searched her face trying to find any signs of lying, but found none.

"You were in the woods by yourself?" I asked puzzled. She nodded. I frowned down at her. "That's a little stupid don't you think?"

"It was for school," she snapped defensively. My face twisted in confusion as Caroline huffed in frustration. "I go to school in the city," she began to explain. "I was in town and I figured that I'd get some homework out of the way for my photography class while I had free time. I guess I lost track of how far into the woods I was going once I started taking pictures."

"So you decided that it would be a good idea to go into the woods… by yourself… at night?" I asked somewhat sarcastically.

She looked away for a moment. "Well, yes," she said with regret shining in her eyes.

"Didn't anyone tell you about what's been going on around here?" I asked in a scolding tone. I rolled my eyes at her after she stared at me blankly. "It's dangerous out here. You need to be careful. Beacon Hills is not the perfect, little town that it once was."

Caroline stood up without hesitation. "Thank you for your concern but I can take care of myself," she sassed in her light voice. A growl grew in my throat. I had just met the girl  _and_  saved her life, yet she was already crossing over to my bad side… but then again, everyone was on my bad side.

"There are…" I paused while trying to find the appropriate words, "animals out here that will eat you alive. You're lucky that I found you, or else you would be dead," I retaliated in my signature harsh tone. She winced at my bitter words while her eyes wandered away from me again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered so quietly that I almost missed it. Caroline was silent for a few moments. "And thank you," she added as she looked back up at me with sincere eyes. "Really. Thank you for saving me. I can't thank you enough," her little voice said. All I managed to do was nod.

We stood there for what seemed like a lifetime in awkward silence before she broke it. "I should go," she sang in her bubbly voice as she ran her hand through her hair. "My sister must be going crazy looking for me!" She stopped and shook her head as she stared out the window. "I really don't remember anything," she said in amazement.

"You most likely fell down the hill. It looked like you hit your head pretty hard," I suggested while trying to sound convincing. "You might want to get that checked out by a doctor."

"How did you find me?" she asked.

"I heard you scream and searched for you," I lied.

"Well thank you again," the girl smiled warmly at me but of course I didn't return. She turned back to the couch to grab her jacket which I had placed next to her. Suddenly she gasped.

"My camera!" her voice squeaked as she snatched it from the floor.

"I picked it up on the way back," I said.

"Thank you very much," she beamed. The girl was pretty energetic for someone who almost lost their life a few hours ago. Or maybe it was just the fact that I wasn't used to being around such bright energy.

"Thank God you found it! This camera is my life," Caroline 's eyes were animated as she cradled the Nikon in her hands. It was then that my heart stopped, my body froze, and my mind went blank. As she looked over her shoulder at me, her hair slightly swung to reveal an unusual sight on the back of her neck. Caroline quickly fell quiet as she caught my hardened expression once she turned around. I crept closer to get a better look.

"What's wrong? What are you looking at?" she asked starting to get frantic.

"Don't move," I stated sharply. Slowly, I stepped closer to her, pleading inside that what I was looking at wasn't what I thought it was.  _No, it can't be_ , I thought.

"Fuck," I spat out. But before I could get a closer look at her neck, my vision shook violently. Suddenly my breathing quickened and my body began to quiver. Caroline ignored me and ran over to the broken mirror on the wall across the room. My ears began to ring as my heart continued to beat faster. Faintly, I heard a gasp come from the other side of the room followed by sobbing. "No, no, no," Caroline repeated hysterically as she stared at the mirror eyeing four shallow marks following the shape of a crest on her neck.

"Is it what I think it – " Caroline began to say before she turned around towards me.

"Derek?" I heard faintly. "Are you okay?" My hearing was muffled.

My heavy breathing began to turn into uncontrollable growls as I tried to gather every ounce of energy to stop my body from transforming in failure ─ I fell to my knees as the beast inside of me began to take over.


End file.
